Columban Rev Dr Patrick McInerney, director for the Columban Centre for Christian-Muslim Relations, delivers talk on Ecclesiam Suam at the Bishop Bede Heather Centre, Sydney.
The Columban Centre for Christian-Muslim Relations had many reasons to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Pope Saint Paul VI’s encyclical Ecclesiam Suam, published on 6 August 1964. It introduced the word “dialogue” into the teaching of the Catholic Church. It shaped Vatican II’s positive outreach to the world. It laid the foundations for Pope Francis’ insistence on synodality and universal fraternity. Acknowledging the anniversary was particularly important for me. I have been involved in interreligious dialogue for the past 45 years. Dialogue is why my Columban colleagues and I went to Pakistan in 1979. It shaped our missionary involvement there. It led me to study at the Pontifical Institute for the Study of Arabic and Islamics. It has flowered in my interfaith work at the Centre. Dr Trish Madigan OP and I shared personal reflections on this life-transforming, ground-breaking document in talks at the Bishop Bede Heather Centre in Blacktown on 13 August 2024. I also gave the talk again at the Catholic Institute of Sydney on 25 September 2024.
Photos: Left - Columban Rev DR Patrick McInerney delivers talk at the Catholic Institute Sydney on the significance of Ecclesiam Suam for interreligious dialogue and its relevance today. Right - Columban Rev Dr Patrick McInerney and Dr Trish Madigan in a Q&A session during their talks on Ecclesiam Suam.
The text of my talk is available here.
Related links
- Read more from the current Columban Interfaith eBulletin.
